Message to Iran - Israel Air Force held exercise for long-distance flights

Prime Minister to Europeans (on Iran): "Don't say we didn't warn you"

We will check whether the coffee house franchises established a cartel

Peace Talk Highlights
Maariv reports that Prime Minister Binaymin Netanyahu is furious with Finance Minister Yair Lapid's 'left-wing
stance' and is expected to hold a summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while the Palestinians fear that
Netanyahu won't release the next round of prisoners. Ynet's Elior Levy reports on
Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian research that shows that Hamas will become more moderate and the standard of living
in Israel will rise is a Palestinian state is established.

In closed circles, Netanyahu expressed his anger with Lapid for telling Bloomberg TV that
Israel did not need the Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, Maariv/NRG Hebrew's Arik Bender reported. Netanyahu also said that Justice Minister and chief
Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni thinks like Lapid, but is presenting Netanyahu's
demands as a condition to a peace agrement only because Netanyahu required her to do so. Netanyahu
said that the demand was in order to prevent the Palestinians from continuing their national struggle inside the
borders of Israel after a peace agreement. "The left-wing wants a state-for-all-citizens, and if recognition of
Israel as a Jewish state is not achieved, the battle will continue with all its might for Arab autonomy in the
Galilee and the national struggle of the Bedouin in the Negev. That's what Lapid does not understand," said
Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Lapid meet in Washington with US Vice-President Joe Biden and senior members of Congress,
including Republican House Majority leader Eric Cantor and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and discussed Iran and
the peace process.

According to Maariv's Palestinian affairs reporter Asaf Gabor, Abbas and Netanyahu are likely to meet
in the coming days. A Palestinian source claimed that following US pressure, Abbas told Washington
that he agrees to hold a summit without any pre-conditions, but would like some gestures made towards the
Palestinians in order to prepare for the event. Meanwhile, a senior PLO official, Yasser Abed Rabo, told Gabor that
"The situation of the talks "is not good" and that if there is no breakthrough soon there will be a "diplomatic
disaster." The Palestinians also fear that Israel will try to get out of releasing the
second group of prisoners. "We understand that Israel did not agree to release the prisoners early [assumably for
the Muslim Eid holiday next week - OH], but we are worried that Netanyahu will pull a fast one. We won't be
surprised if he decides not to release them on the agreed upon date. If that happens, we will stop the negotiations
immediately."

A first of its kind Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian study examines what would the situation here be like 'the day after a pace agreement' and finds an
almost utopian picture. Hamas will become more moderate, the standard of living in Israel will rise and perhaps
settlers will remain in Palestine. Brigadier-General (Res.) Udi Dekel, head of negotiations during the Annapolis
period, participated in the project which was sponsored and funded by the EU and the German Konrad Adenauer
Foundation, and managed by the Center for Strategic Dialogue management at the Netanya Academic College. Details
about the conclusions here.

Iran-related News:
Netanyahu tells Europe, 'Don't say I didn't warn you,' while Maariv writes that he has already accepted as a given
the ease of sanctions on Iran. MK Tzachi Hanegbi says Israel should attack Iran and the Israeli Air Force holds a
long-distance drill in a not-so-subtle message that this is a real possibility. Meanwhile, Iran cancels an annual
anti-Zionism conference and Iranian dissidents say the country is moving a nuclear research site to hide it.

Meanwhile, Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi, who is considered a close associate of Netanyahu, gave an interview to
Maariv/NRG Hebrew in which he said that Israel can and should attack Iran because it is clear that the US and
Europe have no interest in doing so. Hanegbi claims that Iran has limited ability to respond, because Israel can intercept its
missiles and anyway the missiles are not very exact and even if they do hit Israeli citizens, the Iranian rulers
will become war criminals and then "President Rouhani won't make it to New York, but rather will be arrested on
the way and brought to trial at the Hague International Criminal Court."

West Bank mosque defaced in second 'price tag' attack in 12 hours - Three vehicles were set on
fire and a Hebrew inscription was sprayed on the walls of a mosque in the West Bank village of Burqa. (Haaretz and Maan)

Gaza protesters demand death penalty as anti-NGOs meet - Death penalty supporters protested in
the Gaza Strip on Wednesday outside a conference calling for its abolition, days after Hamas hanged a convicted
murderer. (Maan)

IDF's roughest, toughest female soldier - For three years, IDF's most strenuous course for
training platoon commanders has included female warriors. Ynet speaks with Or Katzav, IDF's most combative
female soldier, currently taking part in grueling training: 'I knew giving up was not an option.' (Ynet)

**Third of Israeli youths don't know what happened on Nov. 4, 1995 - New study reveals growing
number of Israeli teens youth don't know what happened on faithful night of November 4, 1995 when Yigal Amir
shot and killed Yitzhak Rabin. Some 14% of haredi youths claim Rabin was killed by Arab. (Ynet)

Israeli court says parents can attend child interrogations - An Israeli judge ruled Wednesday
that the parents of Palestinian minors detained by Israel can attend police interrogation sessions with their
children. Israeli police interrogate Palestinian children repeatedly without the presence of their parents and
often force minors to confess to crimes using illegal methods, said a Palestinian lawyer. [Note, there are
still many more flaws to the prosecution of Palestinian children in Israeli military courts, as described
here. -OH] (Maan)

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.